


Deviant Desires

by Flagg1991



Category: The Loud House (Cartoon)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:21:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22084072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flagg1991/pseuds/Flagg1991
Summary: Sam and Luna now live together in the city and Lincoln attends college a few miles away. When he agrees to spend his spring break with them, Sam notices that Luna is excited...maybe a little too excited. Realizing she likes the idea of Lincoln and Luna together, Sam hatches a plan to make it happen.
Relationships: Lincoln Loud/Luna Loud, Lincoln Loud/Sam Sharp, Luna Loud/Sam Sharp
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

Everybody has a secret. That frumpy librarian? Total dominatrix in bed. The little old man shuffling down the street and looking like a mummy? Nazi war criminal in hiding. The nondescript middle aged dork down the street? "He was such a nice guy," neighbors say of gunman.

Sam Sharp, twenty-two and currently working part time as a paid intern (AKA bitch) at WKBG, knew that all too well, for she had a few of her own. For one, she accidentally burned down her grandparents' detached garage when she was eight (hey, she was a little firebug back then, what could she say?). For two, she had never seen Ghostbusters, Alien, or The Thing. That might not sound like much, but when you're hanging out with a group of rockers who dig old school stuff and you tell them that, they'll spend the next fifteen minutes roasting you like a pig on a spit. And trust me, they will not go easy. Like damn, sorry I haven't seen this fifty year old B-movie, what a POS, right? Burn me like a witch, but be warned, fire turns me on!

Okay, no, it didn't.

Not anymore.

Anyhoo, Sam knew that everyone, everyone, has at least a little baby skeleton in their closet. Her girlfriend, Luna, was no different. Tall and curvy with shaggy brown hair, cute little freckles, and brown eyes that shimmered in the light of the morning sun like chocolate diamonds, Luna was everything Sam had ever wanted in a partner: Kind, chill, liked good music, and was a demon in the sack. Ummm. Some dykes used toys, but Luna had the magic touch: She could ride your pussy and finger your G-Spot at the same time. Sam didn't know how that was even possible, and every time she vowed to study her lover's methods, she wound up twisted and moaning in ecstasy instead, all thoughts forgotten. Kind of hard to think when your soul's gushing out of your twat.

Sam had been with Luna since they were both fifteen and knew and loved every freckle, blemish, mole, and laugh. They shared an apartment on 116th Street in South Detroit, a neighborhood populated by ancient brownstones with zigzagging fire escapes, vacant lots, and crackheads. They both worked and attended school online, Luna for music and Sam for dental hygiene, and honestly, Sam was 100 percent happy. They didn't always have enough money...and sometimes their power got shut off and they had to eat Ramen six nights a week..,but they were in love and always got by. Sam could not see herself anywhere else than with her raspy voiced angel.

Angel or no, however, Luna was a human being and therefore came preloaded with secrets and mysteries. Sam never pried or pressed or worried over them. They were for Luna to know and for Luna to share if she wanted. She trusted Luna to not cheat or piss what little money they had away on dumb shit, and that was all that really mattered.

It was by accident, then, that Sam discovered her girlfriend's deepest, darkest god-don't-tell-anyone secret. In retrospect, it started in early March, when Luna's little brother Lincoln called to tell her he had enrolled in City College in Detroit, a bare five miles from Sam and Luna's building. Luna grew up in a big, close-knit family and hadn't seen much of them since she and Sam moved out on their own three years ago, so it stood to reason that she'd be excited that her brother was moving closer.

Only...she was a little too excited. She talked about it for nearly a week, and when she did, her eyes sparkled like starlight. She went on and on and on. Lincoln this, Lincoln that. You ever hear the phrase "to ride someone's dick"? It's basically the zoomer version of "to kiss someone's ass." Luna rode Lincoln's dick so hard that even Sam herself started thinking he was Jesus Christ incarnate. He was so sweet, so caring, so considerate, he always helped Luna when she needed it, he was a good listener - jeez, ride him a little harder, huh?

Sam didn't think anything of it at first. Luna was happy and Sam was happy too. This obviously meant a lot to her, and even though she (mentally) made fun of Luna for kissing her brother's butt, she knew how much Luna loved her family, and wasn't in the least bit put off, offended, or anything else. Why would she be? Only an abusive asshole gets butt blasted because their partner has family and friends.

In June, Lincoln took a Greyhound from Royal Woods and stayed with them for a few days while he toured his college. The whole time, Luna was jammed up his butt. She'd sit on the couch with one leg drawn under her, snuggle up against the overstuffed cushion padding the back, and talk to him for hours with this satisfied little smirk that she had only ever given Sam. The poor guy couldn't even take a leak without Luna tracking him down. She was like a lost puppy dog, and on the day Lincoln left, she hugged him so tightly that his eyes bugged out. He looked like his spine was about to snap, and Sam had to feel bad for him. He was thin almost to the point of emaciation and Luna's arms were toned and muscular from years of guitar (and G-Spot) picking, so when she hugged, brother, she fucking hugged.

Other than that, nothing particularly strange happened during his visit, but as she watched Luna and Lincoln interact, Sam could almost believe that Luna kind of had a thing for him.

That was ridiculous, and, Sam thought, maybe the jealousy talking. Luna was all about Lincoln, Lincoln, Lincoln, and after a while, Sam started to feel ignored. It was nothing.

Lincoln started at State in September and picked up a part time job at a deli after school. Between work and school, Sam and Luna rarely saw him, and Luna seemed fine with that. She was content having her brother close, and Sam felt kind of bad for thinking - even in jest - that her feelings for Lincoln were anything but innocent.

What made her feel even worse was this:

The thought of a sister digging her brother was really hot.

Sam was young, bisexual, and liberated, but when it came to sex, she was fairly vanilla. She wasn't into minors, she wasn't into the elderly, she didn't like be choked, tied up, watched, or anything else off the wall. She liked it slow, languid, and full of touching, kissing, and passion. In other words, her sexual appetite was normal and absolutely not what even the most prudest of prudes would call deviant. Even so, once she noticed how Luna acted with Lincoln, she started to turn the idea of sibling incest over in her mind, and was surprised to find she liked it...like really liked it. The thought of a brother and sister so consumed with biological need that they met under the covers at night and did things to each other that they ought not do...shameful things that felt so fucking good they just didn't care...turned her on so much her knees shook. Why was that idea so freaking hot? Why did imagining Luna and Lincoln as two horny kids touching each other while their family slept on unaware make her panties damp?

She didn't know, but at first, she was a liiitltle mortified. Come on, brother and sister? That's sick. But every stray thought brought her back to it and after a while, she wasn't so ashamed anymore. Once, during one of hers and Luna's epic jam seshes, she pretended they were sexually repressed sisters exploring the fruits of each other's bodies for the first time, innocent and curious and flushed from head to toe, and when she came, she came hard. But there was something special about the idea of real, flesh and blood siblings getting it on. It was wrong, it was taboo, it was somehow sweet and pure at the same time it was dirty and sinful.

For a while, she entertained the fantasy of Luna and Lincoln together, then work and life got in the way and she largely forgot about it. In early April, she was stretched out on the couch and watching TV when Luna came through the door from work, her Android wedged between her ear and her shoulder. "Yeah," she said happily and bumped the door closed with her hip, "it's gonna be rockin'. I can't wait."

Sam lifted the remote and changed the channel. Oh, cool, Dr. Phil was on. Today he was exploiting - I mean helping - a woman whose toddler weighed nearly two hundred pounds. Plus, she didn't know who the father was, so Muary was there to give her the results of a paternity test.

Luna came over and Sam moved her feet so she could sit, then sat them in her lap. Luna switched her phone to her other hand and nodded. "Yeah," she said, "the bus stops at the end of the street and goes right past there."

Who was she talking to?

On TV, Muary read the results to a group of fat men. "You are NOT the fathers." They all broke out in a perfectly choreographed victory dance; man breasts jiggled, stomachs rippled, and when they spun as one, eight butt cracks winked at the audience.

"Yeah, no big," Luna said. A sly grin spread across her lips, and Sam frowned. Okay, who -?

Then it hit her.

Lincoln.

"Okay, yeah," Luna said, "I gotta go too. Can't wait to see you, bro." She hit END and dropped the phone on the coffee table. She let out a refreshed sigh, sat back, and took one of Sam's feet in her hands. Her face was downright glowing, and even before Sam opened her mouth, she knew exactly why.

"Who was that?" she asked anyway.

Luna kneaded Sam's sole. "Lincoln. He's gonna stay with us for spring break...if that's okay." There was no challenge in her voice, but there also wasn't any question. Lincoln was going to spend a week here whether Sam liked it or not. Luckily for Luna, she didn't mind one little bit.

For a good two days, Luna was stoked. Like really stoked. She floated around on a bank of clouds, laughed easier, and didn't worry as much over the bills. Sam watched her the entire time, and could have sworn she was observing a girl in love.

Did she have a thing for her brother? Despite all the idle thoughts Sam had poured into the concept of Lincuna, she never seriously thought Luna was into him, but now...she wasn't so sure. It was possible, right? Or was Sam just turning into a huge perv? She intentionally brought the topic of Lincoln up and studied her girlfriend's face. Big, shimmery eyes? Check. Hazy Cheshire smile? Check. Girlish giddiness? Check-a-rooney. All signs are pointing toward yes.

Wow.

Just wow.

She dug her own brother. Did she even realize it? Or was it, like, subconscious? And if it wasn't, didn't she know how awful that was? How unnatural?

How HOT?

Lying in bed that night next to Luna, Sam stared at her phone, unseeing, and spun grand erotic visions of Luna and Lincoln in her head. She imagined the tip of Lincoln's dick hovering hesitantly over Luna's opening, his resolve wavering as he had second thoughts. Luna lay with her legs spread to reveal her pink center, nude save for a purple tanktop that slipped down one freckled shoulder. She anxiously chewed her bottom lip, one eye urging he on and the other begging him to stop. A look of uncertainty passed between them; they knew what they were about to do was wrong, but they both wanted it so fucking bad. Lincoln's arms, planted on either side of his sister's shoulders, shook and his back rose and fell with the tide of his breathing; Luna mindlessly rocked her hips back and forth, her body already going through the motions to which her brain couldn't quite commit.

They stayed that way like a scene frozen in time, and Sam flashed. Penetrate her, damn it! She saw herself reaching out and shoving Lincoln roughly forward. His dick sank between his big sister's waiting folds. They let out a shared gasp, and Sam kneaded Lincoln's shoulders like a playful kitten, tempting him to move his hips in sinful unison with his sister, leading him astray and loving every second of it. Lincoln began to rut, and the whole time, Sam rubbed herself against his flexing butt, the sights, sounds, and smells of his and Luna's coupling driving her into a frenzy.

She came back to herself and realized she was so wet that the crotch of her lounge pants were damp. She shifted uncomfortably, and her thighs slid wetly together.

It was official. She was a perv big time.

Oh well. There are worse things to get girl-hard to than the idea of your sexy girlfriend being reamed out by her cute little brother.

While that was true, it was still kind of a strange thing to get flustered over.

Strange or not, she was turned on and…

...and she kind of wanted it to actually happen. She pictured herself sitting on the edge of the bed while Lincoln fucked Luna inches away, watching as her lover gave into her biological urges and forgot for one blissful moment that Lincoln was her brother. Watching as Luna took his dick deep into her body, watching as she clutched the sheets and threw herself into his thrusts...watching as he pumped his load into her, seeding her fertile womb with thick sperm that had absolutely no business being inside that particular girl.

Uhhh. Jesus fuck, why was that so sexy?

A lump welled in her throat and she stole a quick glance at Luna, who scrolled through her own phone. Yeah, fucked or not, strange or not, fucking illegal or not, she wanted to watch Luna's little brother fuck her.

The thing was: How would Luna feel about that? Everything from the merry light in her eyes down to the raspy purr of her voice when she spoke to him on the phone told Sam Luna's love wasn't so innocent, but subconsciously feeling something (if subconscious it was) is a lot different from actually doing it. Plus, maybe Sam was reading her all wrong.

Hmmm. No, she knew Luna, there was definitely something there.

She examined Luna's profiled, as if by doing so she could find some conclusive proof that Luna's feelings were impure, but found none. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't, but the hot issue here was this: Was Sam really willing to watch Lincoln fuck her? Say she brought up the subject and Luna was 100 percent onboard. Great. Thinking and doing were two different things, remember? Could she honestly let someone else make love to her girl? Could she honestly sanction a brother pinning his sister's legs to her ears and railing her until she creamed? Yeah, the mental image that called up was omg, but...it was kind of a big deal. What if it fractured his and Luna's relationship? What if they caught real feelings for each other? She'd heard the term "playing with fire" before, and if it didn't describe this, she was the Queen of Sheba.

After a little soul searching - and willfully ignoring any scruples that didn't agree with what she already knew she wanted - she decided that getting Lincoln and Luna in bed wasn't just okay, but great. They were already close, and this...well, this would just bring them closer. Kind of hard to not be close to a girl you've been balls deep in. That's a special connection right there, and really, Lincoln and Luna were just the type of brother and sister who deserved a richer and fuller relationship.

When you got right down to it, she'd be doing them a favor. And by not doing it, she'd be denying them something beautiful and pure and good. She couldn't do that. And anyway, Luna totally had a little crush on Lincoln...she was just too embarrassed to act on it.

That was where the world's best girlfriend - AKA Samantha Kelly Sharp - came in. If she could give Luna and Lincoln a little wink-wink, nudge-nudge, good things would happen for all of them. They'd get to parttake of each other's forbidden flesh, and she'd get to see her girlfriend committing incest with her little brother. Then maybe after Lincoln filled his sister to the brim, he could do the same to her. Remember that scene from Joe Dirt? "I'm your sister! I'm your sister!" Sam would scream that until she flipped her top, then she'd take every last drop of his cum to -

Jesus, she really needed this to happen. She got raunchy af when she was horny, and nothing would cure the ache in her loins but Lincoln and Luna sinning before her hungry eyes. Maybe when he was done nutting in his sister she would -

She shook her head. Alright, where was she again?

Oh, right, nudging Luna into the idea of doing her brother. First, she needed to sound her out and see where she stood. Would it take a little poke, or a big ol' shove?

"So," she said and laid her phone on her chest, "Linc, huh?"

Luna glanced up. "Huh?"

"Lincoln's coming to town."

The corners of Luna's mouth twitched. "Yeah," she said patiently, as though Sam had pointed out something painfully obvious, "he is."

"How many days?"

"Thursday."

Three days. Spring break lasted a week. "That's cool," she said. "I mean, you're really amped."

Luna nodded. "Yeah, I can't wait to see him. It's been a while."

The last time they saw Lincoln for more than a quick hi and bye was at Christmas, when they all took a Greyhound to Royal Woods and stayed with the Louds for a couple days. Luna was happy to see all her siblings, but guess which one she stuck to? His name started with an L and ended with an incoln.

You know, now that Sam thought about it, Luna hadn't always been like this. It only really started when they moved to the city. Maybe Lincoln represented something more to her, like family. Maybe she was conflating her sexuality with that because...well...Sam didn't have an explanation for that. She liked to think she was smart, but she wasn't that smart. Go ask Frued for an answer.

"Yeah, it's been a little while," Sam agreed nonchalantly, then, "you're just really excited."

Luna's brow crinkled ever so slightly. "I guess," she said.

She wasn't giving Sam much to work with, but that was Luna for you. When she wanted to stonewall, she outdid Jackson.

If ya know what I'm saying.

"Just...if I didn't know about better…" Sam shrugged.

"What?"

Sam shrugged again. She didn't want to come outright and say it, but she apparently had to. "I'd say it's almost like you're into him."

There.

It was out.

Luna favored her with a blank stare, then understanding dawned in her eyes...and Sam was positive she saw a little spark of guilt. "M-My brother?" Luna asked sharply. Why did her voice sound so...stiff? So...contrived?

Because she was...oh, I don't know...lying?

"I didn't say you were into him, it's just...it's kind of almost like you are. It's cute."

"That's gross," Luna amended. "Why would you even say that, dude?"

Sam pushed herself up on her elbows and sat back against the headboard. Luna watched her warily, brows angled down in an outraged V. "Every time you get around Lincoln, or talk to Lincoln, or talk about Lincoln, you just kind of...I dunno. Glow."

Luna threw up one hand. "He's my brother," she said, "I love him."

"More than your sisters?" Sam asked pointedly.

Luna opened her mouth, then snapped it closed again. Ha, got'cha. "No," she said. The defensive edge in her voice was unmistakable. "I love all of them, but he's the only one close..."

Before Luna finished speaking, Sam crossed her arms over her chest with a flourish and lifted a challenging brow. Luna faltered and trailed off, her cheeks turning a very faint shade of red. "Seriously," Sam said, then cracked a knowing grin, "do you have the hots for your brother?"

"No!" Luna cried. "I just...I mean...you know how close we are. It's…" she struggled to come up with a convincing response, then sighed. "I'm closest with him than anyone else, alright? We all kind of are. It's like...we spent more time with him than each other growing up. You know how much one on one I got with Lisa? Like none. She's still a stranger to me. Lincoln, though...it's almost like he's the only sibling I have."

Sam nodded. Luna had said as much - though not as bluntly - and Sam understood it. Lincoln was the middle child, and, like a box of baking soda soaking in odors from the fridge, he kind of absorbed a little bit of everyone's personality. He could be competitive like Lynn, artistic like Lucy and Luna, serious-minded like Lori, prissy like Lola, and animal-loving like Lana. He was the perfect playmate, friend, and confidant to each of his sisters. Well, maybe not perfect, but more perfect than anyone else. He was also kind of a pushover, so if one of his sisters needed help with something, they just went and grabbed Lincoln.

All of his sisters probably felt that way about him, and for a brief second, Sam felt a twist of shame at what she was planning.

But Luna was into him. She just knew it. Luan and Lynn were always happy to see him too, but not like Luna. Luna practically piddled whenever he was around...and it sure wasn't pee dripping down the inside of her leg. It was girl cum, the deepest, sweetest essence of woman, the body's natural lubircation lovingly secreted in anticipation of being fucking mated…

Sam squeezed her thighs together. Alright, she needed to get laid stat.

Just as soon as this was over. "Yeah," she said sympathetically, "I know, it's just...you seem like maybe there's something there, and...you like him, don't you?"

Her reward was a withering glare that slowly dissolved into a slight frown. Luna darted her eyes to her lap and let out a deep sigh. "When I was fifteen I used to think man, I really want a guy like Lincoln. You know, sweet, caring, stuff like that."

She spoke in a halting manner that suggested talking about this wasn't easy for her, so Sam scooted closer and laid a tender hand on her knee, communicating endless love and understanding. Again, her stomach knotted and her resolve almost crumbled. She loved Luna, nothing would change that, and it occurred to her that she was seriously considering manipulating the girl she was in love with to do something that she might not really want to do on her own.

Then it passed.

Of course she wanted to. The proof was right here in front of her.

"And a couple times we'd hang out and laugh and have fun and I just...I wanted to kiss him." Luna smiled fondly, then swallowed it down just as quickly as it had come. "But I knew how fucked up that was and I kicked myself in the ass for it." She hastened to add, "I don't feel that way anymore, it was just hormones, you know? Puberty and all that."

Sam nodded. Inside, she was smiling.

Oh yes.

This was totally going to happen.

Poor Lincoln was going to come through that door like a fly into a spider's trap, completely unaware that his soon-to-be sister-in-law was going to gobble him up. By the end of this week, his dick was going to be buried so deep in Luna's crotch that whoever pulled it out would be crowned the new King Arthur.

Sam cupped Luna's cheek in her palm. "If you do have feelings for him...it doesn't bother me."

"I don't," Luna vowed.

But she did, and later that night, after they had sex and lay in each other's arms, Luna asleep and Sam drowsing, Sam began to plot.

Just as she drifted off…

...she smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

Weak amber light filtered through the open window over the desk and a whiff of warm wind rustled the screen. The high, joyous trill of birdsong greeted the new day, and in the commons down below, a girl laughed and called someone named Johnny a loser. Lincoln Loud peeled one eyelid open, and the world swam gradually into focus. It was just past seven by the clock on the nightstand, and the alarm was set for seven-fifteen.

Might as well get up now.

For a moment he simply lay there, regretting every decision he had ever made to bring him to this point - getting out of bed early on an off day - then he swung his legs out from under the covers and sat up. The fabric of his blue boxer shorts bunched in his ass crack and his damp white T-shirt stuck to his sweaty frame; the A/C in his dorm didn't work right and even with the window open, it got hot. He got to his feet, pulled his boxers out of his ass, and shuffled to the mini fridge next to the desk, the hardwood floor gritty and cool on his bare feet. He bent, opened the door, and retrieved a can of Coke from the top shelf. A slice of pizza on a paper plate, a green squeeze bottle shaped like a lime, and a couple cans of Natty Ice were the only other occupants.

He popped the lid, took a long, grateful drink, and perched on the edge of the desk. Below, archaic brick buildings loomed over a green commons dotted by trees and benches and crisscrossed with concrete walkways. Normally, it would be thronged with kids making their way to class but now it stood desolate and empty, the only living things in evidence the birds and a few squirrels chasing each other up and down the gnarled trunk of a spreading oak tree. A white plastic bag blew along the ground like a restless spirit, then got hung up on a branch and fluttered impotently for a moment before going slack, as if in surrender.

Today was the first day of spring break and most of the kids on campus had left the night before. Lincoln's roommate, Andrew, let out after his last class yesterday, and for the first time in months, Lincoln had the place to himself.

You know what that means.

He watched anime with the volume turned all the way up.

Taking another drink, Lincoln got up and went to the dresser, where he sifted through the drawers in an attempt to dig up enough socks, underwear, and shirts to keep him clothed for the week. He sat the soda aside, fetched his duffle bag from under his bed, and carried it to the desk. In the courtyard, a security guard in black walked an idle beat, his hands thrust into the pockets of his jacket. Lincoln shoved the clothes into the bag, tossed in a Ziploc baggie containing his toiletries, then zipped it up.

He was spending Spring Break with Sam and Luna. He was planning to take a bus back to Royal Woods, but his boss wouldn't give him any time off. I need you makin' sandwiches, Loud, he said, not trouble on the beach! Well, sir, I wasn't going to the beach, I was going home, but okay. It took Lincoln forever to find that job and he was terrified of losing it and going back to searching every nook and cranny with a fine tooth comb while his money dwindled. There's nothing scarier, nothing more wrought with hopelessness, than being an adult and looking for a job, but not finding one.

That's the stuff nightmares are made of.

He didn't make much at the deli, but he was able to eat and have a little bit of cash in his pocket, so if missing out on seeing his family was what it took to keep the boss happy, fine. Lincoln was a well-adjusted adult, he didn't need to be shoved up his family's ass. He'd catch them next time.

He was going to just stay here, but he was talking to Luna on the phone one day, and she insisted that he come over and "crash on the couch, bro." He tried to beg off, but she was persistent. "Come on, man, it's been a while, I really wanna see you." It hadn't been all that long. They saw each other at Christmas, which was...let's see..he counted on his fingers. Five months.

Whoa.

Five months?

That was a long time.

Growing up, Lincoln was close with his family. Not in an obsessive, co-dependent, way, but maybe a little more than average. Kind of hard not to get close to someone when you live stacked eleven deep in a house with paper thin walls. His sisters were also very forceful. They had their needs and Lincoln was the only one who could meet them.

Ew. That sounded bad.

No, see, his sisters all had their own thing going on, Leni making dresses, Luna rocking, Luan comedy, Lucy writing morbid-ass poetry, and Lynn...back at it again with the sportsball. The only person they could get to help them was him, because he, unlike the others, was small, timid, and weak. All you had to go was grab him by the scruff of his neck and boom, you had someone to listen to your stand-up routine or model your pink, frilly couldn't do that with Lynn because she'd ram her elbow in your guts and tell you to get bent. Lincoln wouldn't because if he tried, you could kick his little runt ass up and down the hallway until he begged forgiveness and promised to do whatever you wanted him to whenever you wanted him to do it. Because of that, he spent a lot of time with each one of his sisters and considered them very close. Life, however, had gotten in the way, and sometimes he was so consumed with the inner workings of his own existence - schedule, homework, making them sandmiches - that he didn't even think of his family for weeks on end.

Which is how, he reckoned, he was able to think five months wasn't a long time between visits. Jeez, it didn't even feel like five months. Time flies when you're having fun, right?

If working a shit job, studying, and being up to your eyeballs in student loan debt can be considered "fun."

Dressing in a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt covered in faded grease and mustard stains from work, Lincoln sat on the edge of the bed and pulled his shoes on. Luna and Sam both had the morning off, so he'd head over there on the bus and hang with them until they had to leave for work. He wasn't on the schedule at the deli, but Bob, who worked the days Lincoln didn't, was a pill head who didn't always come in when he was supposed to, so there was a good chance he would get called in anyway.

An hour later, after hitting the communal bathroom, Lincoln slung his backpack over his shoulder and left the building. The halls were eerily silent and the flickering fluorescent lights overhead lent it a decidedly horror-movie air that he didn't like. He expected a masked killer to step out of every doorway he passed, but he made it to the stairwell unmolested, and let out a breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding. He went down the steps, footfalls echoing behind him like the coming of ghostly doom, and stopped at the mailbox in the lobby.

Nothing.

Outside, the day was warm and airy, the scent of blossoming buds wrapping around his senses like a snake (stare into my coils, lil' boy). The traffic sounds from College Ave washed over him as he walked the three blocks from his dorm to the end of campus, a tapestry of swishing air, humming tires, beeping, and, once, someone yelling a startled, "I'm walkin' here!" During his ten minute trek, Lincoln allowed his mind to wander, and wound up coming back to Ronnie Anne.

When they were eleven, he and Ronnie Anne were best friends. They went to the arcade together, played video games together, told each other all their problems, and even kissed a few times, once with tongue. They were on the cusp of puberty, two kids dipping their toes into the murky and mysterious waters of sexuality, and if things had worked out differently, who knows? When she was almost thirteen, she, her mother, and her brother Bobby moved from Royal Woods to Detroit and, in the natural course of things, they lost touch. They were friends on Facebook and traded the occasional private message - Lincoln "liked" some of her pictures, and she his. After State accepted him last year, he messaged her and proposed the idea of them hanging out sometime. She said Sure why not? and deep down, Lincoln wondered if maybe they could pick things up where they left off all those years ago. He didn't particularly carry a flame for her - if he did say so himself - but he had good memories of their tie together and she was beautiful, so why not try? If it didn't work out, it didn't work out.

Looking back, he wondered if that wasn't his way of trying to latch onto a little bit of familiarity in a strange new environment. He had lived in Royal Woods, at home, his entire life, and suddenly he found himself a grown man practically on his own in a city he knew little about. Ronnie Anne was, in a way, like a life preserver.

Only things didn't work out.

At all.

See, somewhere, somehow, Ronnie Anne changed. Gone was playful tomboy of Lincoln's youth. In her place was an abrasive, loud-mouth woman who worked a dead end job and went clubbing every Friday and Saturday night. She was what Pop-Pop, dead these past two years, might call a "hood rat." Her idea of fun involved weed, alcohol, and partying, and the few times Lincoln met up with her, it felt almost like she was a different person entirely, an alien pod-woman who only looked like Ronalda Santiago, but wasn't really her.

Lincoln, on the other hand, was bookish and what Pop-Pop (bless his soul) would call "a real pencil-neck geek." He liked video games, Dungeons and Dragons, and Trek Warz. He still thought Ace Savvy was the man and Kang of the Rang remained his favorite epic fantasy film.

People change, he knew that, but he had an image of Ronnie Anne built up in his mind, and discovering that it was only a snapshot of a little girl who didn't exist anymore stung Lincoln deeply.

Worse was the thought that maybe...just maybe...he was the odd one here. Ronnie Anne wasn't that little girl anymore because little girls eventually grow up. Lincoln was, by and large, the same boy he was at eleven. He liked the same things, had a lot of the same opinions, you could say that, in essence, he had never grown up.

You'd be wrong, though.

Right?

Liking board games and science fiction didn't mean he wasn't an adult. He just liked what he liked. Ronnie Anne was the one who changed and really, did she change for the better? No, she hadn't.

That didn't stop the new and pressing self-doubts, and it didn't make him feel any better. Over the past two months he had been hyper-conscious of everything he did, liked, and said. Other boys his age went out with girls, played football, worked out, and other...well...grown-up things. He sat in front of a screen and played XBox Live with twelve-year-olds. Other guys his age didn't get as excited about things as he did. When the new Trek Warz movie came out last month, he was as giddy as a kid on Christmas...and that made him feel like crap. That's something a little boy would do, a man would acknowledge it with mild interest even if he was stoked for it.

He couldn't help himself, though. He was who he was.

Over the past few weeks, he had been coming to terms with that, and he was comfortable enough in his skin that playing DnD with his friends or reading Ace Savvy comics under a leafy tree in the commons didn't fill him with shame. He did, however, wonder if he was lacking something, some undefinable component of manhood.

A girlfriend?

Eh, maybe.

He'd never had a serious girlfriend outside of Ronnie Anne and like any normal guy, he wanted one, but he didn't see how that'd make him more grown-up. They joke about being with a girl making you a "man" but he knew immature man-boys who had girlfriends; it sure didn't help them.

He needed something else, but what?

Eight months in a bamboo cage?

He grinned. That was a reference to a video game. Call of Honor: Aftermath. In it, you play a guy who was taken POW in Vietnam and then comes home with a roaring case of PTSD. On level three, he gets into an argument with his wife and says, "I was a boy, then I spent eight months in a bamboo cage and came out a man."

As enticing as that sounded, Lincoln didn't think it would be any better than getting a girlfriend.

The northwest edge of State campus is bordered by Center Street, a broad lane boasting fast food joints, gas stations, and cheap motels where even cheaper hookers plied their not-so-secret trade. Every once in a while, one accosted Lincoln as he walked to or from the bus stop. They were all old, ugly, and had a look of shame in their drug-addled eyes. Lincoln had never taken one of them up on their offer (even the one who offered him a deep discount because he was "cute") and didn't see any way he ever would. Paying for sex is bad enough, but knowing that the distracted girl beneath you doesn't even want to be there...man, that's a new level of humiliation. The bus stop was on the corner of Center and Harley Staggers Avenue, its place marked by a simple glass and metal shelter over a bench. Trash, cigarette butts, and dead leaves littered the cracked concrete surrounding it, and a black guy in rags sat on the bench with his head down, his side to side sway telling Lincoln he was either drunk or high. Cars rushed by in either lane, and across the way, a couple construction workers in orange vests and yellow hard hats stood around a hole in the ground looking perplexed. Huh, it's round.

Lincoln leaned against a NO PARKING sign and absently watched traffic pass. Though he called himself an adult...and was in the legal sense...he was still only eighteen. It didn't make much sense to beat himself up for not being 100 percent grown-up when he was still technically a teenager. He was dimly aware that he had a lot of life ahead of him and thought that he would eventually have all the experiences that go into making one a true adult. It was just...he didn't know. Things had been weird since leaving Royal Woods and while he thought he was adjusted, maybe he wasn't. This was a time of change and transformation and he if that doesn't put you off balance, nothing will.

Counting down the days to the beginning of spring break, he found himself getting more and more excited by the prospect of hanging out with Luna. Like Ronnie Anne, she was familiar, a beacon of comfort in a dark, crashing sea. Whenever he was around her, or any of his sisters for that matter, he felt a certain ease, the way you might when you slip on an old shoe broken in juuuust right. Right now, craning forward to see down the street (still no bus), he hummed with nervous energy. He was always inexplicably apprehensive about seeing his family after long periods of time, but as soon as he got around them, his tension melted instantly away.

Ten minutes later, the bus ambled down the street and came to a rolling stop. The doors clunked open and Lincoln climbed on. He dropped his change into the fare box then moved down the aisle, grabbing a seat toward the back. Cool air pumped from overhead vents, but it was still hot, and he opened the window.

Eleven stops separated State from Luna's neighborhood. The route skirted the edge of Downtown, ran between the ritzy Hamilton Hills district to the north and Callahan Point in the south, and crossed the interstate over I-69. At one point, the Detroit River appeared in the distance, and Canada beyond.

Twenty-five minutes after setting out, Lincoln yanked the pullcord and the bus pulled to the curb in front of a Subway with grimy windows. The buildings here were all old and decrepit, their brick faded smooth and dull red by time and the elements, in some cases covered in elaborate graffiti, and the people Lincoln saw milling on the corner looked rough and mean. He got up, shouldered his bag, and got off.

In the near half-hour since leaving State, the temperature had risen ten degrees, turning the morning almost uncomfortably warm. Lincoln threaded his thumb through the strap of his backpack and walked the two blocks to Luna's building, a towering brownstone with a fire escape and barred windows on the first floor. Fifty years ago, it may have been a nice place, but today it was run down and dumpy. In the lobby, cracked floor tiles clacked under his feet and a hand lettered sign reading OUT OF ORDUR was taped to the elevator, as it had been every time he visited Luna and Sam. A Mexican woman in a shower cap and rumpled pink dress stood at the bank of cubby mailboxes to the left, and when Lincoln passed, he distinctly heard a muttered Jodida factura de electricidad.

Translation: Fucking electric bill.

Dirt, dust, and bits of debris littered the stairs and on the second floor landing, an old white man with a bushy beard sat against the wall with a 40 between his legs. Luna and Sam's apartment was at the end of the fourth. The carpet was matted and splotched with stains and faint cooking odors lingered in the stagnant air. Luna and Sam's place was pleasant enough, but the rest of the building made him feel unexplainably claustrophobic, like the walls were closing in on him.

At their door, he knocked and waited. At the end of the hall, a white guy came out of an apartment, scratched his nuts and went into another apartment directly across the way.

The knob turned and Luna appeared in the frame, clad in denim cutoffs and a purple tank top. Her hair was shaggier than it was the last time he saw her and her face a little thinner, as though she were finally losing those last few ounces of baby fat. Her big, brown eyes lit up when she registered his presence, and a shit-eating grin ran across her thin lips. "Hey, bro," she said and threw her arms out.

"Hey," Lincoln said.

Lincoln took her into his arms and she wrapped slipped her arms around his waist, her face burrowing affectionately into his chest. Her thin body fused to his, her soft warmth and the steady beat of her heart comforting and familiar, like a fuzzy blanket. Lincoln breathed deeply of her scent, clean and bold like summer rain, and he rested his chin on her head, her shaggy brown hair tickling his skin.

He wouldn't say he was closer to Luna than his other sisters, but, he supposed, he was. He didn't hug and cuddle Luan or Lynn the way he did Luna. Some people might call it weird, but their affection for one another was pure, innocent, and natural. Long ago, her constantly touching him, looking at him, and smiling at him when they were together made him uncomfortable, but now that he was older and had tasted the cold, bitter wine of a cruel and indifferent world, he appreciated it.

"I missed you," she said soberly.

"I missed you too," Lincoln said.

Without warning, Luna squeezed his as tight as she could, and his spine cracked in at least three places. He let out a breathless umph, then hissed through his teeth when she slapped his back as hard as she could.

Alright then.

If that's how it's gonna be.

He did the same, and she yelped.

She shoved him away with a laugh and swiped her bangs out of her eyes. "Don't you know you're not supposed to hit a girl?"

"I didn't hit, I smacked."

Luna bit her bottom lip and faked a punch to his stomach. Lincoln jumped back and crossed his arms defensively over his guts. "That counts as hitting," Luna said.

Inside, Luna closed the door behind them. Sunlight streamed through the windows and suffused the tidy living, lending it a bright and happy air. The walls here were clean and the carpet freshly vacuumed; an apple scented candle flickered on the coffee table and the lemony smell of Lysol found his nose. Sam lay stretched out on the couch in a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt with KORN across the chest. The remote rested on her stomach and her hands were laced behind her head. "Hey, Linc," she said.

"Hey," he said.

Luna took his bag and sat it in the corner, then the three of them sat on the couch, Lincoln in the middle and Luna snuggling up to him like a satisfied cat. "How was the ride over?" Sam asked.

"It was alright," Lincoln shrugged. "Saw a couple winos."

Sam snickered. "Was that dude still laid out on the landing?"

"Nah, he was sitting up when I walked by."

Sam hung her head. "He's been living there for, like, a week."

"He's fine," Luna said. "He says hi when he's awake."

"He didn't say it, but he looked it," Lincoln quipped.

Sam laughed and Luna rolled her eyes. "Okay, Luan," Luna said.

"That wasn't a pun, though."

"It also wasn't funny."

Ow.

And thus started the weirdest week of Lincoln Loud's life.


End file.
